Art Market San Francisco's fifth edition welcomed a record 25,000 visitors to Fort Mason Festival Pavilion over five days of strong sales and well attended programming and events. The high quality of modern and contemporary artwork presented by seventy galleries from around the world set the scene for important acquisitions by an engaged crowd of collectors, curators, and art advisors.

Wednesday night's Benefit Preview supporting the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco introduced the top echelon of the Bay Area art world to Art Market San Francisco. The festive, celebratory crowd enjoyed a first look at the gallery presentations and artist installations while experiencing the performative work by FAMSF resident artists in an atmosphere curated by San Francisco's Ken Fulk, Inc. Over 6,000 people attended Thursday's Art Party, Art Market San Francisco's opening celebration that launched the fair into a weekend buzzing with exhibitions, panels, talks, tours.

Sales were strong across the board with acquisitions of six figure works reported. Highlights include San Francisco's jack fischer gallery's sale of Jay Kelly constructs and Forum Gallery's placement of a Robert Bauer painting with a local collector on the fair's opening night. Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery sold work by Rob Tucker and Phil Shaw. Just last June, Shaw was commissioned by Prime Minister David Cameron to create a special artwork to be presented to the world leaders attending the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. Art Market San Francisco marks his first exhibition on the West Coast. ​ Catharine Clark Gallery placed Wanxin Zhang sculpture with collectors Dorothy Saxe, Pamela and David Hornik, and a private corporate collection based in Southern California. The gallery also sold Deborah Oropallo's Liontamer to a private collector and several works by Timothy Cummings to a prominent private San Francisco collection. Electric Works sold many of their Dave Eggers silkscreens and original paintings throughout the run of the fair. Manhattan's Joshua Liner Gallery sold a large scale work by Robert Larson from his Evidence series to a local collector new to the artist's work. Morgan Lehman Gallery placed works on paper by Paul Wackers and paintings by Rubens Ghenov, and Eleanor Harwood Gallery sold several editions of Dana Hemenway's illuminated Untitled (extension cords - two yellow) installations. Transarte Brazil of Sao Paulo placed work by Timothy Cummings, and Ever Gold Gallery sold work by Adam Parker Smith, Henry Gunderson, and Sandy Kim. New Orleans' Jonathan Ferrara Gallery placed several Bonnie Maygarden acrylics throughout the fair, and SFAQ sold three of Guy Overfelt's whimsical Picasso Bongs to two established contemporary art collectors. Jonathan Novak had an extremely productive fair, and Hashimoto Contemporary, Walter Maciel, Axiom Contemporary, and wall space galley all reported excellent sales across their platform to new and returning West Coast collectors.

Visitors to the fair were greeted by Art Market San Francisco's ON-SITE installations - works by contemporary artists who have collaborated with Art Market to electrify the pier's public spaces. Guests were taken with Michael Buscemi's First Glance at the fair's entrance, many making it the site of photo shoots with friends and family. A large scale wall sculpture by Dana Hemenway illuminated the fair's front wall, and Wanxin Zhang's wonderful panda sculpture just outside the fair harkened back to neighborhood's important role in the Panama Pacific International Exposition. Walter Robinson's Fruits de Mer and Sam Perry's lyrical wooden sculptures were highlights of The Battery VIP Lounge. Stephen Whisler's Observer and shipping containers at the fair's front ushered visitors through the front door. The containers provided a backdrop for Guerrero Gallery's program of light and sound based site specific installations including Exray's Vanishing Point, an evolving audio installation and music video by Jon Bernson & Michael Falsetto-Mapp, and a site specific installation by William Emmert, Sahar Khoury, and Terry Powers.

Design and Media Sponsor San Francisco Cottages and Gardens (SFC&G) and DZINE curated the fair's Central Lounge, providing fairgoers with an elegant space from which to take in the action. Sponsors Perrier and The Wall Street Journal were on hand with product and publications for fair-goers, and Supporting Partner Tondo provided a social media connectivity inspiring visitors to talk about how art makes them feel. The Battery VIP Lounge was a welcome respite from the bustling floor, providing an exclusive, chic space for the fair's VIP guests.

Programming highlights included a conversation with FAMSF Curator Emma Acker about the museum's upcoming Robert Motherwell exhibition, See Art Differently, a panel hosted by Sartle.com about new, unique, and interesting ways to engage audiences in art, and the San Francisco Art Dealers Association and ArtCare's panel discussion focused on public art and creative placemaking initiatives in the Bay Area and the diverse ways in which artistic interventions can encourage community engagement in the urban public realm. Sheltering Art III: David Ireland’s 500 Capp Street and From Street to Market: How Street Art Can Retain its Message rounded out the programming schedule with exciting discussions of issues directly pertaining to San Francisco's unique art scene. Art Market San Francisco worked alongside The San Francisco Foundation to produce a successful charity auction, with all proceeds going directly to local institutions including Illuminate the Arts, Museum of Craft and Design, Museum of African Diaspora, and Root Division.

For a complete list of exhibiting galleries visit:
http://artmarketsf.com/galleries/